Education category, Page 49
Show goes on for Elizabeth Forward High School band, musical after blaze
School districts from across the region and beyond are chipping in to help raise money to ensure Elizabeth Forward High School’s musical production goes on after a massive fire destroyed the auditorium, band and choir rooms. James Benedek Jr., the school’s musical director, on Monday said the school’s production of...
Local districts await fallout from Pa. court ruling on school funding
Funding Pennsylvania’s 500 school districts was never going to be an easy equation to solve. The diverse nature of the state — rural and urban, wealthy and poor — coupled with funding decisions enacted by Pennsylvania lawmakers resulted in a lawsuit being filed eight years ago, claiming bias in the...
‘College Now’ program gives high school students a chance to earn early associate’s degree
When Jacinda Floyd first heard about the “College Now” program at Westmoreland County Community College during her freshman year at Franklin Regional Senior High School, she said she “kind of overlooked it.” “I was thinking, ‘I’m a freshman and have a lot of time to go before college,’” Floyd said....
State approves first Black-owned pre-apprenticeship program in Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Chapter of the A. Philip Randolph Institute has been approved as the city’s first Black-owned, state-certified pre-apprentice program for the skilled trades. The APRI’s “Breaking the Chains of Poverty” program is designed to help people build the skills necessary to earn a career in the building and construction...
Leon Ford shares story of ‘moving forward’ despite adversity with students from 9 local high schools
Leon Ford wheeled himself in front of a group of high school students on Friday and told them his story. “I was pulled over by the police. I was shot multiple times. I’m paralyzed. I was 19.” A Pittsburgh police officer shot Ford during a 2012 traffic stop in Highland...
Schools become flashpoint for Republicans eyeing White House
NEW YORK — Former President Donald Trump has called for parents to elect and fire school principals. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has banned instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. And Nikki Haley, the former U.N. ambassador who is expected to announce her White House...
Pitt withdraws from participating in U.S. News & World Report law school rankings
The University of Pittsburgh said Friday it will withdraw from participating in the U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, joining a revolt now spreading nationally among public and private schools over the rankings’ methodology. The U.S. News Best Law Schools ranking system “is systematically flawed and harmful to...
Pitt names interim law school dean
Haider Ala Hamoudi has been named interim dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law following Amy Wildermuth’s resignation on Jan. 23. Employed at the school since 2007, Hamoudi had been overseeing daily operations as acting dean while an interim dean was put in place, Provost Ann Cudd said....
Seton Hill University names new financial chief
Seton Hill University has a new chief financial officer. Brent Jackson begins his duties effective immediately, according to Seton Hill President Mary Finger. In addition to CFO, Jackson also will be the university’s vice president for finance and administration. Jackson has held the job on an interim basis since April...
The pandemic missing: The kids who didn’t go back to school
She’d be a senior right now, preparing for graduation in a few months, probably leading her school’s modern dance troupe and taking art classes. Instead, Kailani Taylor-Cribb hasn’t taken a single class in what used to be her high school since the height of the coronavirus pandemic. She vanished from...
Penn State joins dozens of law schools withdrawing from participating in U.S. News rankings
Penn State University’s two law schools are withdrawing from participating in future U.S. News & World Report law school rankings, joining more than 40 peers who say the news organization’s methodology is seriously flawed. Yale and Harvard universities announced they were withdrawing from participating in the rankings in November and...
Lives of pregnant Penn-Trafford teacher, baby boy saved by school nurse, staff
Until two months ago, Penn-Trafford School District nurse Rhaeann Shepler had never performed CPR on a real person. Her first shot at it saved not one life but two. A little before 9 a.m. on a chilly Dec. 12 morning, Shepler sprang into action along with six of her co-workers...
Poorer districts win challenge to Pennsylvania public school funding
HARRISBURG — A Pennsylvania judge ruled Tuesday that the state’s system of funding public schools falls woefully short and violates students’ constitutional rights, siding with poorer districts in a lawsuit launched nearly a decade ago in pursuit of billions of dollars in additional annual aid. Commonwealth Court Judge Renee Cohn...
Penn State lands on group’s 10-worst list for free speech
On top of the fallout Penn State University experienced after a tumultuous Proud Boys appearance on campus last fall, now an individual rights group is labeling the university weak on free speech. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) placed Penn State on its latest national “10 Worst Colleges...
Mars Area basketball coach describes scene when gunman reported outside school
The high school basketball gym had been packed for a game that took three overtimes to decide. After passing through a handshake line, the visiting South Fayette and the home Mars Area boys varsity teams headed downstairs to their locker rooms. It had been an near-ideal Friday night high school...
Autonomous Zamboni developed by Carnegie Mellon students
Rathin Shah, who grew up in India, had never been to a professional hockey game until the Pittsburgh Penguins invited him and four other graduate student researchers to PPG Paints Arena for an unlikely reason. There was plenty of fast-paced action in the game between the Penguins and Florida Panthers...
Westmoreland schools take top spots in Westinghouse Chain Reaction Contraption contest
From marbles to movie tributes, Westmoreland County students made all the right moves when it came to creating a Rube Goldberg-style machine for the annual Westinghouse Chain Reaction Contraption contest. Teams from Hempfield Area and Franklin Regional high schools took the No. 1 and No. 2 spots, respectively, in the...
Black history class revised by College Board after criticism
BATON ROUGE, La. — High school senior Kahlila Bandele is used to courses that don’t address the African American experience. Then there’s her 9 a.m. class. This week, it spanned topics from Afro-Caribbean migration to jazz. The discussion in her Advanced Placement course on African American studies touched on figures...
Point Park University names interim president
Chris Brussalis, chairman of The Hill Group Inc., has been named interim president of Point Park University. School trustees named him to succeed Donald Green, 58, who resigned two weeks ago. Green, who had been in the job for 18 months, cited “private, personal and family reasons” for his departure....
Pitt law dean Amy Wildermuth departs her post
The University of Pittsburgh will be looking for a new dean in the months ahead with the announced departure of Amy Wildermuth, who held the position for 4 1/2 years until this week. Provost Ann Cudd delivered word of the transition Monday in a two-paragraph message to law school colleagues...
Graham Spanier’s on-campus book event at Penn State canceled because of wintry weather
A scheduled on-campus appearance by former Penn State President Graham Spanier was canceled Wednesday after the university canceled classes and some school activities because of wintry weather. Spanier had planned to promote his book, “In the Lion’s Den: The Penn State Scandal and a Rush to Judgment,” in an appearance...
No more nuggets? School lunch goes farm-to-table — for some
CONCORD, Calif. — As the fine-dining chef at her high school served samples of his newest recipes, Anahi Nava Flores gave her critique of a baguette sandwich with Toscano salami, organic Monterey Jack, arugula and a scratch-made basil spread: “This pesto aioli is good!” Classmate Kentaro Turner devoured a deli-style...
Former Penn State President Graham Spanier to promote his book on Sandusky scandal in campus appearance
In the prologue to his memoir, Graham Spanier summed up his life as Penn State University president until his world came crashing down around him in November 2011. “I was all in,” he said. “And it should be no secret that I miss my job.” Not that he’s become a...
Hazing suit at Bowling Green ends with nearly $3M settlement
The family of a student who died from alcohol poisoning while pledging a fraternity will receive nearly $3 million from Bowling Green State University to settle its hazing-related lawsuit, according to an agreement announced Monday. As part of the settlement, the family of Stone Foltz and the university both said...
Greensburg Central Catholic alumni to be honored at auction
A Navy submarine officer, an English teacher at a school for migrant children and an attorney whose nonprofits have served thousands of children form the latest class of distinguished alumni of Greensburg Central Catholic High School. The 2023 Distinguished Centurions are: Lt. Comm. Christopher Jessel (Class of 2004) of Norfolk,...
